Boosting Farm Productivity in Africa Through the Sustainable Use of Machines

Friday, October
05, 2018 /02:10 PM /Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Food and
Agriculture Organization (FAO)

New African Union-Food and Agriculture Organization of the United
Nations (FAO) framework also aims to create new jobs while reducing reliance on
manual labor

FAO and the African Union today launched a new
framework document that aims to increase agricultural efficiency and reduce
drudgery by helping countries in Africa to develop strategies for sustainable
farm mechanization.

The Sustainable Agricultural Mechanization: A Framework
for Africa (SAMA) is the result of discussions with policy makers from AU
member states, the AU Commission, FAO and key partners. It offers a detailed
look at the history of machinery in Africa, and points the way towards
addressing challenges and creating new opportunities to assure the successful
adoption of mechanization.

"Doubling agricultural productivity and
eliminating hunger and malnutrition in Africa by 2025 will be no more than a
mirage unless mechanization is accorded utmost importance," AU
Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture, Josefa Sacko, said at the
launch of the framework at FAO.

Remarkably more than three-fourths of farmers in
sub-Saharan Africa prepare their lands using only hand tools, a practice that
entails poor productivity, repels youth and is incompatible with the
continent's Zero Hunger goal.

"Farmers in Africa should be able to use modern
agricultural technology, both digital and mechanical, to boost the agricultural
sector in a sustainable way," said FAO Deputy Director-General Maria
Helena Semedo.

The new framework identifies 10 priorities for AU
member states to include in their national plans, ranging from the need for a
stable supply of machine spare parts and innovative financing mechanisms, and
the importance of regional collaborations that allow for cross-border hiring
services.

The framework notes that successful national
mechanization strategies will address key sustainability issues including
gender, youth, environmental protection and the overarching principle that
farming must be profitable. It also emphasizes that these strategies should
cover the entire agrifood value chain, including harvesting, handling,
processing and food safety aspects, with an eye to reducing food losses,
boosting rural employment and bolstering the links between farmers and
consumers.

Past, present and
future

While tractors are used to prepare land on over 60
percent of cultivated lands in Asia, the corresponding figure for Sub-Saharan
Africa is around 5 percent. Moreover, the use of draught animals in sub-Saharan
Africa is minimal outside of Ethiopia - due in considerable measure to the
tsetse fly - so almost all the work is done manually.

One result is that many African farmers deploy
low-yielding techniques and may prefer slash-and-burn methods.

Today smaller and more affordable machinery, such as
two-wheel tractors, are available hiring services using digital technologies
are proving popular around the continent, underscoring how the sharing of
capital assets can be leveraged to achieve greater scale and access to modern
tools.

What is to be done?

The framework notes that cross-border initiatives -
for dealers, supply networks and tractor operators - can allow for viable scale
and greater utilization.

Another key consideration is farm profitability. This
can be fostered by giving access to markets, credit and land tenure a visible
role in mechanization policies. The framework has been designed to contribute
to the pledges made in the African Union's Malabo Declaration and Agenda 2063,
and to do so in a way that is private-sector driven, environmentally smart,
affordable and friendly to smallholder farmers.

Its implementation will require significant
contributions from other stakeholders, including public institutions and
private actors such as the European Agricultural Machinery Industries
Association (CEMA), which has just renewed its partnership with FAO to work on
issues related to sustainable mechanization strategies in developing countries.

FAO and the AU's strategy acknowledges that
"there is great potential for innovation in African agriculture" -
notably with the proliferation of mobile technologies and access to information
and services - and that a significant effort in capacity development will have
to be made to rise to related challenges.

To that end, FAO and the International Maize and Wheat
Improvement Center (CIMMYT) have also published a training manual to help roll
out more effective networks of access to small-scale mechanization services.